9 MARCH 2002, page 49

'i'm The Other One'

Anita Brookner NEGOTIATING WITH THE DEAD by Margaret Atwood CUP, £13.50, pp. 219, ISBN 0521662605 N o man is a hero to his own body, observes Margaret Atwood in her disquisition......

My Kingdom For A Mother!

Robert Macfarlane BABEL: A NATURAL HISTORY OF LANGUAGE by John McWhorter Hamish Hamilton, £15.99, pp. 400, ISBN 04434007897 C ertain languages, particularly tonal languages,......

The Fabulous Baker Boys

Michael Glover IMPERIAL VANITIES by Brian Thompson HarperCollins, £17.99. pp. 271, ISBN 0002571889 h is piece of fairly frothy historymaking, a rollicking good 'human-interest......